A state medical examiner’s autopsy has confirmed that there was no foul play in the death of former police officer Bryan Johnson, who was alleged to have made a bomb threat and fabricated a shooting in September.

Johnson, 24, was found dead in his 6 Walnut Hill Road home at 3:01 a.m. Thanksgiving morning.

Related Content

David Traub, spokesman for the Norfolk County District Attorney, said the autopsy, although not complete, confirms that there was “no foul play” in Johnson’s death.“Nothing suspicious,” Traub said.

Authorities said the death was never investigated as a homicide, but Traub would not give the cause of death.

Johnson lived at his family home since his Wrentham District Court arraignment on Sept. 11, at which he posted $50,000 bail.

Johnson’s death comes shortly after a Norfolk County Grand Jury indicted him on six charges stemming from the Sept. 2 event, in which Johnson is accused of making up a story about a gunfight with a shooter in a red pickup truck that caused his cruiser to crash into a tree and catch fire.

According to a state police report, Johnson admitted to pulling his cruiser into a field off Forest Road and shot it three times with his personal 9mm handgun. The cruiser was then brought back up to Forest Road where it eventually caught fire before he shot several rounds with his police-issued weapon to simulate returned fire, according to his confession.

Johnson was indicted on six charges: willful communication of a bomb threat to a school, misleading a criminal investigation, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a home, making a false police report, willful and malicious destruction of property over $250 and wanton destruction of property over $250.

The charge related to the bomb threat is the first instance of authorities publicly linking the shooting hoax and bomb threat.

When police announced that Johnson made up the gunfight on Sept. 4, they made no mention of a connection.

Johnson, two years out of college with a criminal justice degree, worked as a dispatcher for about a year before being appointed as a reserve officer in late summer. He was to enter into the police academy this fall to become a full-time officer.

Authorities have not publicly determined a motive behind the hoax.

In light of his death, the Norfolk County Superior Court arraignment scheduled for next month will not take place and the grand jury testimony remains sealed.